Sometimes there just aren't words .....

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David

To the nation of Israel, for judgment, God has given the cup of drunkeness. It is always the fate of those who once had the true foundation of the faith and trampled it under foot. There should be a call to mourning and grief.

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Fifi

I wonder if the pastor then proceeded to mime the sermon?

I have seen some clowns in the pulpit before, so this does not surprise me.

Mike

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Mike

Is being a fool for Christ the same as being a Church Jester? This question touches on a larger question Ive been having recently with all of the experimental ways American Christians "do Church."

In my line of work, which involves designing, we struggle constantly with the problem of encoding messages that can be successfully decoded by an audience in a "language" they understand, while keeping the intended message intact. This is harder then it sounds! That is why I think pastors should resist the temptation to become new media tinkerers and experimenters.

When it comes to creating a message that transcends cultures and contexts, I honestly can say that I've never seen any message connect more successfully in more contexts then the bible. It befuddles me that pastors, who should be trained in scriptural exegesis, decide to become amateur cultural exegetes and reconstruct the gospel message in forms that detour from time-proven straight-forward biblical presentations.

They share methods with one another on how to design a presentation in a language the people understand, but never seem to care or notice that meaning of the message suffers or is downgraded in their experiment.

Why even introduce the symbolism of clowns that is so open to misunderstanding? At best, these experiments seem harmless but completely frivolous...at worst they undermine the gravity of their message. The best thing i could say about this story is that hopefully these people wore their big noses and floppy shoes with good intentions. In the end, these hi jinks seem like an example of ambiguous communication in which the clowning around adds annotation to the gospel that in turns undermines the denotation...at least to this viewer. I enjoy humor, but when there is so much juggling with the word of God these days, this scene give me the tears of a clown.

These people can't take all the blame, because apparently "liturgical clowning" is an accepted type of "ministry" with an established history. As Dhuff suggested, the symbolism of this phrase and story needs no comment. It communicates on it's own.

MC

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Mike Compton

Wow!

When I was a teenager, I once visited a congregation that advertised "revival meetings." My youth pastor and I decided to attend.

After a few songs, the door to a prayer room opened and out popped a family of clowns! Seriously. Makeup...color suits...wigs...rubber noses...and big plastic shoes. The clowns told jokes, juggled and performed illusions. At the end of their performance, they wrapped up their message with "a merry heart is good medicine" and "it is okay for Christians to have fun."

For a while, I thought that we had mixed up the congregations from the advertisement. However, at the end of the meeting, the pastor urged the congregation to return the next evening for another night of "revival."

Needless to say, we didn't return.

What a sad state! The world is "going to Hell in a hand basket"...people are literally dying in their sin by the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS every single day...the "Church" (as an named association) is in a spiritual coma...and we literally have clowns performing on stages and calling it "revival."

*EDIT - This might be a good time to listen to A BURNING HEART by Leonard Ravenhill.

http://media.sermonindex.net/4/SID4025.mp3

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Christopher

Think it was Keith Daniel who said, "Entertainment in the pulpit is sin." Colin Peckham said, "When you see Jesus consecration is easy."

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Richie

Please tell me you guys aren’t going to take up your stones and start throwing them at clowns now? I’m not advocating that clowns be in every service every Sunday at every church but come on! Some clowns and their ministry are not purely “entertainment” in the pulpit but actually a m.i.n.i.s.t.r.y.

Are you guys going to throw stones at the clowns who walk (ministering) up and down the halls of the Children’s Hospital comforting the kids?? Do you even pick days to go pray for the sick children? Oh so, they can minister, but just not in church? Is that it? What about Christmas parades?! I wonder if half of you even attend your local Christmas parades. That's where your neighbors are!!

I am by no means gifted as a clown but each of us do have gifts, you know! And it truly amazes me that some of you are so quick to jump on a bandwagon and stone a ministry just because it doesn’t meet your standards never taking the time to see if it meets God’s?

God help us all,
Lisa

PS: Have any of you ever heard the term, “so holy you’re no earthly good?”

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Lisa

Hey you hard nosed non-clowns!

I loved reading this article. A good leader knows when he needs a little humor, consider the times.